Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
Bid round –II under Discovered Small Field Policy will be launched on 9th August, 2018.
Bid round –II under Discovered Small Field Policy will be launched on 9th August, 2018. The event will be presided over by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Background:
India is the world's fifth-largest economy with the size of over 2.6 Trillion USD. Recently, it surpassed France and soon India is set to leapfrog Britain to become the fourth-largest economy.
India is the 3rd largest energy consumer in the world. Its energy consumption is expected to grow by 4.2% p.a. which is faster than all major economies. According to the International Energy Agency , India is expected to account for almost one-third of the global growth in energy demand by 2040.
To maintain the thrust on economic growth, it is imperative that the country’s Oil & Gas sector grows consistently so as to enable energy security and accessibility to its people.
Policy reforms in this sector:
In addition to several other reforms, Government has implemented new contracting policies such as the Open Acreage Licensing Policy , and the Discovered Small Fields  policy. These are primarily based on the four energy pillars as laid by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi viz. Energy Access, Energy Efficiency, Energy Sustainability and Energy Security.
About Discovered Small Fields Policy:
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas India launched the DSF in 2016, with the motive for extracting the Oil, Natural gas from the un-monetized small oil/gas discoveries that are available in the country. It provides an easy investment option for new and existing players with minimal risk.
Directorate General of Hydrocarbon , under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, looks after the DSF policy implementation and is taking extensive outreach effort on behalf of Government to attract new players to the industry.
DSF Bid Round-I launched by the Government, was a splendid success and was completed in a record time of 10 months. It received overwhelming success with 134 bidders for 34 blocks on offer. 30 contracts were awarded to 20 companies out of which 13 were new entrants in E&P sector. First oil/gas is expected in 2019-20.
Encouraged with the Success of Bid Round-I, and looking at the massive interest from Industry, especially from Private Sector; the Government is now to rolling out DSF Bid Round-II which is offering larger field areas in commercially producing basins.
Features of DSF Bid Round–II are as below:
- No previous technical experience required for bidders, easy entry & investor friendly policy
- Expected to offer around 60discoveries clubbed into around 26new contract areas
- Large field areas on offer in already producing basins
- Established Hydrocarbon resource base of over 190 MMT 
- Better fiscal system through Revenue Sharing Contracts
- Area having oil/gas discoveries; Potential of upsides in the area; Ready processing facilities nearby; Ready market
- Easy bidding process; minimum requirements; transparent award; swift processing of approvals
- Single licence for all types of hydrocarbons
- No signature bonus
- Exploration allowed during the entire contract period
- Full pricing and marketing freedom
- Royalty rates further reduced for shallow water compared to DSF-I